Aristotle's Virtue Chapter Summary

Aristotle laid out his theories involving ethics in the Nicomachean Ethics, mapping out his thoughts about virtues and guiding readers through moral dilemmas. The reader can gather a multitude of different ideas and points of view surrounding virtues and moral duties from the Nicomachean Ethics. Some of these ideas include the definition of virtue according to Aristotle, the ways that one can obtain virtue, and the relationship between vices and virtue. Aristotle views virtue as a mean. It’s a mean that exists between the extreme and the deficient. This idea is reflected by this quote “Virtue, then, is a state involving rational choice, consisting in a mean relative to us and determined by reason- the reason, that it, by reference to which the practically wise person would determine it.” (Aristotle 31). It should be said as well that Aristotle does not present any obligations or standards for the mean or

Aristotle gives the reader an idea of how difficult it can be to hit the mean by expanding on the ideas of virtue. He says that an important part of virtue is acting in the right way, at the right time, in the right manner. This idea is conveyed in chapter nine of book two, “”...but doing them in relation to the right person, in the right amount, at the right time, with the right aim in view, and in the right way-that is not something anyone can do, nor is it easy” However, there are some terrible and awful actions that can not have a mean and therefore make it impossible to hit the mark, no matter if it was the right time, place, or person. Aristotle uses numerous examples including adultery, theft, and homicide, “All these, and others like them, are so called because they themselves, and not their excesses or deficiencies, are bad. In their case, then, no one can ever hit the mark, but always misses” (Aristotle